Porridge Radio - The Machine Starts To Sing EP (Album Review)

‘The Machine Starts To Sing’ is a fitting farewell for Porridge Radio: a four-song EP that distills their sound while also hinting at what could have come next creatively for the quartet had they not decided to call it quits.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Wednesday, 26 February 2025

Youth Lagoon - Rarely Do I Dream (Album Review)

Photo: Tyler T. Williams “What have you in common with the child of five whose photograph your mother keeps on the mantelpiece?” George Orwell once wrote. “Nothing, except that you happen to be the same person.”

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Tuesday, 25 February 2025

Krept & Konan - Young Kingz II (Album Review)

Photo: @mrtmorgan & @will_ainsworth Not too long ago, Krept & Konan were on course for the very top. Their 2013 mixtape ‘Young Kingz’ went top 20 in the UK and paved the way for the duo to win the Best Hip-Hop Act MOBO a year later. But while they’ve kept material coming in dribs and drabs over the years, their focus has largely shifted to their community, where they’ve opened a foundation, a supermarket and a restaurant.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 25 February 2025

Horsegirl - Phonetics On and On (Album Review)

Photo: Ruby Faye Less is more as Horsegirl return with a stripped back and playful second album. On ‘Phonetics On and On’ the heavy feedback that soaked the Chicago trio’s debut is gone, replaced with breezy pop melodies and an evolved sound that still evokes ‘90s indie while feeling more personal.

Written by: Jennifer Geddes | Date: Monday, 24 February 2025

Mereba - The Breeze Grew a Fire (Album Review)

Photo: Adane Firde Mereba’s third album finds the LA singer, guitarist and rapper ushering in 13 tracks of luscious and sprawling R&B, with poetic commentary and reflections on motherhood that will live long in the memory. Though it occasionally lacks the stellar songwriting that might break a lot of new ground with audiences, ‘The Breeze Grew a Fire’ is a record of terrific poise and elegance by a recording artist in full flight.

Written by: Jacob Brookman | Date: Friday, 21 February 2025

The Wombats - Oh! The Ocean (Album Review)

Photo: Julia Friedland-Godfrey Inspired by a moment of clarity as frontman Matthew “Murph” Murphy stared out at the sea, if there’s one word to sum up The Wombats’ sixth studio album, it’s self-awareness. Diving deep into anxieties, avoidance, and the struggle in finding balance between isolation and connection, ‘Oh! The Ocean’ confronts the consequences of living inside your own mind.

Written by: Maddy Howell | Date: Thursday, 20 February 2025

Manic Street Preachers - Critical Thinking (Album Review)

Manic Street Preachers have continually evolved throughout a decades-long career, choosing to step around the pitfalls waiting for bands who are happy to rely on past successes. Duly, their 15th album houses critiques of the modern world while questioning the purpose of art and their own continued relevance. 

Written by: Katie Macbeth | Date: Wednesday, 19 February 2025

Larkin Poe - Bloom (Album Review)

Photo: Robby Klein You can’t teach authenticity. You’ve either got it or you haven’t. Sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell — better known as Larkin Poe — have long shown themselves to be the genuine article, travelling from their bluegrass roots through to a potent infusion of country and rock ‘n’ roll across five albums.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory - Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory (Album Review)

Photo: Susu Laroche Doing things in reverse somewhat, Sharon Van Etten’s first LP with the Attachment Theory finds the singer-songwriter parking a successful solo career in order to make music that allows her band to share the limelight for the first time. ‘Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory’ arose from initial jam sessions where her collaborators were invited to run with things and, as it turns out, they didn’t take long to hit the jackpot.

Written by: Graeme Marsh | Date: Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Geologist and D.S. - A Shaw Deal (Album Review)

Photo: Josh Wildman Animal Collective’s artsy, feverish bodies of work aren’t for everyone, but they tend to connect almost spiritually with those who can get on the same page. ‘A Shaw Deal’ dutifully expands the AnCo-verse along these lines, getting into tangled realms that rely entirely on feeling over meaning.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Monday, 17 February 2025

Squid - Cowards (Album Review)

Photo: Harrison Fishman After an almost unprecedented boom in recent years, post-punk now seems to be in a lull. The breakout success of bands such as Fontaines D.C. and Shame et al has led to copycats springing up left right and centre, resulting in predictable albums and concepts becoming the norm. When the creativity behind a subgenre plateaus in this way, it takes something like Squid’s ‘Cowards’ to remind us how it’s done.

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Monday, 17 February 2025

Maribou State - Hallucinating Love (Album Review)

Photo: Rory Dewar It’s been seven years since electronica duo Maribou State’s last album, ‘Kingdoms In Colour’. In that time, they've wrestled with health issues that swept music from the table and raised questions as to whether we would see them again. But ‘Hallucinating Love’ emerges from that uncertainty and resets their already high bar with a set of tracks that are about as emotional and celebratory as we’ve ever heard from them.

Written by: Jack Butler-Terry | Date: Friday, 14 February 2025

Olly Alexander - Polari (Album Review)

Olly Alexander has had a mixed time of it since folding Years & Years a couple of years ago, beginning with a musically promising Eurovision effort last year that sank like a stone at the event itself. But the singer is now ready to take a stand with ‘Polari’, his first full-length release under his own name.

Written by: Issy Herring | Date: Friday, 14 February 2025

L.S. Dunes - Violet (Album Review)

Photo: Shervin Lainez The good news is that L.S. Dunes’ coming together hasn’t turned out to be a momentary spark in time, or a relic to be preserved only in the deepest alternative lore. Pulling together members of My Chemical Romance, Circa Survive, Coheed & Cambria and Thursday, the supergroup’s gritty 2022 debut ‘Past Lives’ set in motion some unique tours and festival appearances, offering the chance to see Frank Iero and friends on the sort of small stages they have long outgrown in their day jobs.

Written by: Emma Wilkes | Date: Thursday, 13 February 2025

Heartworms - Glutton For Punishment (Album Review)

Photo: Gilbert Trejo Some artists struggle to cement their aims on their debut, but Heartworms’ Jojo Orme isn’t one of them. It might not always hang together perfectly as a whole, but ‘Glutton for Punishment’ is a gothic indie-pop statement of intent — if Edgar Allan Poe had a Telecaster and a drum machine at his disposal, one can imagine the results would not be too dissimilar.

Written by: James Palaczky | Date: Wednesday, 12 February 2025

Dream Theater - Parasomnia (Album Review)

Photo: Mark Maryanovich In prog circles there are few bigger deals than ‘Parasomnia’, Dream Theater’s first outing with returning drummer Mike Portnoy since 2009’s ‘Black Clouds and Silver Linings’. Wearing that weight of expectation lightly, the record is a typically complex labyrinth, blending nightmarish metal soundscapes with razor-sharp thrash riffs.

Written by: Jack Press | Date: Tuesday, 11 February 2025

Inhaler - Open Wide (Album Review)

Photo: Lewis Evans Inhaler’s sturdy, reliable brand of indie has made them a breakthrough act in recent years, with two commercially and critically successful albums already under their belt. In that context, the young Dubliners’ third LP ‘Open Wide’ is a canny move, moving in some fresh directions while retaining their established style.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 10 February 2025

Circa Waves - Death & Love, Pt. 1 (Album Review)

Photo: Polocho Over the summer of 2015, Circa Waves quickly became one the UK’s hottest new bands and the toast of the country’s festival circuit. Their mainstream appeal was obvious and indie anthems such as T-Shirt Weather and Fossils felt tailor-made for soundtracking carefree days in the sunshine.

Written by: Matthew McLister | Date: Wednesday, 05 February 2025

Brooke Combe - Dancing at The Edge of The World (Album Review)

Photo: Sam Crowston Brooke Coombe has really made a name for herself of late thanks to a throwback approach that dials up the sound and feeling of Northern soul classics. The Scottish vocalist may have appeared on some listeners’ radar thanks to her work on Courteeners’ ‘Pink Cactus Café’ but with her debut LP she steps out on her own in wonderful style.

Written by: Chris Connor | Date: Monday, 03 February 2025

Anna B Savage - You and i are Earth (Album Review)

Photo: Katie Silvester  During the past few years, almost everyone will have felt the urge to escape our polarised digital present, if only for a short while. Escaping into nature is a welcome panacea, like sinking into the moss and ferns on the cover of ‘You & i are Earth’.

Written by: Tom Morgan | Date: Thursday, 30 January 2025